US telecommunications equipment maker CommScope will acquire Arris, in a $7.4B deal valued at $5.69 billion, with the difference comprised of CommScope’s assumption of Arris’s debt. As part of the deal, the Carlyle Group will make a $1M equity investment in CommScope for an approximate 16% stake in the new company.
CommScope’s CEO Eddie Edwards has claimed the two companies’ product lines are complementary, and that the combined company will “enable end-to-end wired and wireless communications infrastructure solutions that neither company could otherwise achieve on its own.”
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019.

Display shipments for notebook PCs are forecast to increase by 5 percent in 2017 to 177 million units compared to the previous year, while notebook PC unit shipments are expected to remain flat during the same period.

ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) is one of the most important trade shows for the digital signage and professional display market. In 2017, ISE became the world’s largest AV and systems integration exhibition with 73,413 registered attendees.

This presentation provides a comparison between LCD and direct-view LED video displays for high brightness indoor and outdoor applications. The analysis further analyzes trends and developments in the direct-view LED video displays market.

The Bottom Line
Due to a dramatic 26 percent year-over-year decline in prices across all pixel-pitch categories in 2016, LED video-display shipments are expected to grow 27.5 percent with 4.9 percent revenue growth this year.
The outdoor-retail category held almost 40 percent of total market share, due to the high brightness and durability of LED video. However, as installation shifts to indoor applications, this market share is expected to drop to 35 percent by 2020.
LED video price erosion and the market’s increasing appetite for higher resolution displays will shift pixel-pitch categories lower, with 2-4.99mm being installed for both indoor and outdoor digital signage applications and 5-9.99mm catering purely to outdoor displays.
With indoor and outdoor retail and public spaces acting as the main driving force, these categories are expected to achieve year-over-year growth of 98 percent and 63 percent, respectively.

According to IHS, with the availability of larger panels, ultra-narrow bezel video wall displays, higher resolution, lower power consumption and a variety of content management software available in the market, overall revenue for the digital signage market is expected to increase by 10 percent in 2015 and 7 percent in 2016.

Moving consumers to 4K or ultra-high definition (UHD) is shaping up to be a classic push marketing effort, with panel and device manufacturers, studios, and content providers aligned on the push side and a long line of hurdles to be surmounted before consumer demand can cross from niche to mainstream.

Samsung announced its acquisition of Logan, Utah-based YESCO Electronics, LLC, a notable manufacturer of LED signs and displays. The terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed. This acquisition clearly reinforces Samsung’s strategy of incorporating direct-view LED video display technology into their existing product mix to seamlessly cater to both indoor and outdoor digital signage applications.

LED video displays have finally moved to the mainstream signage and professional displays market. This was evident at Integrated Systems Europe 2015 in Amsterdam, where most of the display brands showcased their new LED video display products in an effort to seamlessly cater to both indoor and outdoor applications.

Front projectors have been the leading technology in the education market due to its price advantage over other technologies. However, increasing need for student engagement and collaboration is driving significant change in instructional technology in classrooms. While widespread use of interactive flat panel displays may take a few years, Interactive White Boards (IWBs) are commonly used in the education vertical, particularly in K-12 schools, due to their price, flexibility, design and ability to engage with students.